Command Performance
by bionic4ever
Summary: Tig2: Jaime and Steve return to try and save the circus from someone intent on destroying it. Will everyone escape the maelstrom of evil?
1. Chapter 1

**Command Performance**

(with special thanks to jtbwriter, for her encouragement and inspiration)

Chapter One

Jaime saw it first, and laughter doubled her over, causing her to block Steve's path and keep him from seeing it too.

"Sweetheart?" Steve grumbled. "It's the middle of the night, we haven't had coffee yet, and Oscar just isn't the fake mustache type, so what's so funny?"

Jaime was laughing way too hard to answer, so she stepped into Oscar's office, making room for Steve to follow. Wiping tears of hilarity from her eyes, she pointed to the wall beside the big desk. "It - it's _Boffo_!" she gasped, sinking into a chair and still giggling.

"No, it isn't," Steve insisted, glaring sleepily at the too-familiar clown suit that was hanging from a coat hook. "Boffo retired months ago, and good riddance!" He moved slowly toward the suit, unsure as he reached for it if he meant to toss it in the garbage or drop it on the floor and stomp on it. Once it was in his hands, though, Steve, too, began to chuckle. "Uh...Jaime?"

"Yes, Boffo?"

"I..." (snicker, chuckle) "think this belongs to you."

Jaime looked up to see her fiancé holding tights and a tiny tutu, a evil grin spreading across his face. "Oscar," she groused, "there'd better be some awfully good donuts with that coffee." She looked around, realizing that Oscar wasn't there, but someone else was. "Charlotte? Where's Oscar?"

Charlotte Brown stood off to the side, pouring coffee. The young NSB agent looked slightly sheepish, knowing Jaime and Steve were not going to be thrilled with their pending assignment. "He and Jack will be back in a few minutes."

Jaime reached up to grasp the hand that offered coffee. "It's great to see you. But, did it have to be in such close proximity to...that?"

Steve also smiled at the young agent. "Getting Jaime back into a tutu ain't gonna happen. Believe me; I've tried."

"**_Steve_**!"

"Good morning!" Oscar said, briskly striding toward his desk, doing his best to ignore the unhappy faces of his operatives. Jack Hansen followed him, silently closing the door and taking a seat.

"It's the middle of the night," Steve helpfully pointed out.

Oscar smiled. "You've already found your outfits. Good. We're already running late. Now -"

"I am **_not_** getting back on a tightrope," Jaime insisted. Oscar merely raised his eyebrows, and she scowled in response.

"I trust you remember Lucretia Daminov," Oscar said, looking at Jaime.

"Lucy?" Jaime knew Oscar was talking about the woman who had taught Jaime the basics of tightrope-walking, one very tense afternoon before a previous assignment that had sent both Jaime and Steve off to join the circus.

"That's right."

"Did...something happen to her?"

"Not to her; at least not yet. Lucretia took over as the new head of your former circus troupe," Oscar explained.

"After Lou's untimely demise," Charlotte added. Charlotte would know; she was the one who'd shot him, saving Jaime from the bullet Lou had been a split second from firing into her brain. Jaime had been on her knees, in the corner, and at first she'd believed the sound of the shot meant she was dead. Jaime and Steve were in no hurry to return to the circus.

"Lucy needs our help," Charlotte pleaded quietly.

"There have been several accidents -" Oscar began.

"_Accidents_?" Jaime asked, alarmed.

"It appears someone feels this troupe should be disbanded."

"Go dark," Jaime corrected, "for good."

"You see," Oscar pointed out, "you know all the terms -"

"Lingo," Jaime said grimly. "But that doesn't mean -"

"You already know the ropes."

Jaime groaned. "That was bad, even for you."

"What?" It took Oscar a moment, then he smiled, just a little, in spite of himself. "Oh. Sorry. But I think you can see why you're the best choice for this assignment."

"Besides," Steve added, "you look absolutely stunning in that little skirt."

"You aren't helping, **_Boffo_**." Jaime turned directly to her boss. "They've been having accidents, and you wanna put me back up on a damned tightrope?"

"Charlotte will be acting as a sort of 'advance woman' for the troupe," Oscar told them. "She'll provide the means for you to contact me. I need the two of you to go in, ascertain the source of the threat and put a stop to it."

"Is that all?" Jaime grumbled.

"You know I've got your back, Sweetheart," Steve reminded her. "I will definitely be watching closely."

"Ha ha."

When they were ready to go, Oscar saw his two operatives onto the elevator, met for a short time with Charlotte and Jack, and then walked Charlotte out, as well. Oscar reflected to himself that Charlotte - at 23 - was very young for such important, dangerous work, but she was extremely intelligent and her nerves were rock-steady. She'd encountered Steve and Jaime on their first odyssey into circus life, she'd convinced the OSI's two top operatives - who did not bluff easily - that she was a 15-year-old Soviet girl. Oscar had no worries when it came to this young woman's abilities.

"You didn't tell them?" Jack asked quietly, when the two men were alone.

"I told them everything they need to know," Oscar answered.

"They don't know, do they? About you and Lucretia?"

------


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Jaime carefully checked her trailer for bugs - both listening devices and the eight-legged kind. This was, after all, a traveling circus. Satisfied to have found neither type, Jaime sank wearily onto the single bed, catching her balance as the mattress sank halfway to the floor. _Oh well,_ she thought to herself, _doubt I'll be sleeping much anyhow._

A knock at the trailer door sent Jaime directly into Jana-the-tightrope-walker mode. "Jana, Dear, welcome home!" Lucretia Daminov, a tall, thin woman with a young face that didn't seem to match her age-whitened hair, stood in the doorway. Jaime opened the door and the older woman embraced her. "I am Lucy, Lou's replacement. We're so glad you've come back to us. Anything you need, you just let me know."

Jaime reached behind the gaffer to close the door. Once they were alone, both women dropped their facades. "Jaime, thank you for coming so quickly."

"Oscar said there've been accidents?"

"Yes. My second night in charge, my trailer suddenly developed a wiring problem and there was a small fire." Lucretia closed her eyes briefly, trying to blot out the bad memories. "Less than a week later, one of the elephants missed its cue, and its trainer is now missing four front teeth. In the three months since then, we've had two more small fires, a blackout in the big top - during a performance - a horse that lost its footing, a near collapse of the main tent, a severed trapeze rigging and...two days ago...a wire walker fell. Her net gave way, and..." her voice trailed off sadly.

"Dead?" Jaime asked, not really wanting to know.

"Yes. So far, the only fatality. The rigging, the nets, the wire - all have been replaced and I'll be inspecting it personally each morning."

"So will I," Jaime added. "Have you gotten any notes, phone calls - anything that might suggest what the motive might be?"

"Nothing. Perhaps they believe a woman has no business being in charge of this troupe, or perhaps their feeling is that we've run the course and should just go dark."

"It has to be someone inside the troupe," Jaime observed.

"Unfortunately, it appears you are right. We do have hangers-on, people who follow the circus, wishing to join us, but they'd have no access to what happens behind the scenes. Six weeks ago, I hired the first team this troupe has ever had, and still the accidents continue. I don't intimidate easily, but with innocent lives at risk..."

"You did the right thing, calling Oscar," Jaime affirmed.

"He's never let me down in the past."

_Huh?_ "Have you known him a long time?"

"Quite a while, yes. Would you like to see the new rigging?"

------

"Remember, Dear," Lucretia said as Jaime strapped on the rigging that would take her up to the platform near the top of the tent, "even if you begin to lose your footing, do not panic. You would still have several seconds to bring your center of gravity back into line over the wire before you'd actually fall."

_How reassuring._ Jaime nodded. The similarities between the rigging she'd just strapped on and the parachute rigging from the day of her accident made her shiver. She'd joked a few times in the years since she'd been skydiving that it wasn't the height that she was so afraid of; it was the fall. This time, though, the height _and_ the fall, scared her to death. Her heart pounding in her throat, Jaime nodded to Lucretia, who began to slowly raise her into the air, a little at a time, until she reached the platform. She removed the straps once she was firmly on the platform, then picked up her balance pole and clung to it like an old friend.

Jaime tested the wire - which was actually a rope - tentatively with one foot. It was taut and ready. As for Jaime herself, her nerves were definitely taut; however, she felt anything but ready. She stepped very slowly and cautiously out into what felt like mid-air, the pole bouncing in front of her. To her joy and amazement, she stayed upright on the wire. Feeling a little better, she walked to the center of the wire, raised one foot and did an extremely careful turn on one leg.

_So far, so good. _

Steve, having just finished his first rehearsal with the clowns, stopped to watch. Jaime, feeling a little bolder with each second that she didn't plummet to her death, allowed both feet to leave the wire in a tiny leap, then a slightly higher one where she reversed direction in the air.

"Easy there, Ace," she heard Steve whisper from the ground. "We're dark tomorrow, too. You've got another whole day to practice. Looking good, though."

Jaime gave him a smile and a wink, knowing he was focused in and watching, then skipped back to the platform. She did a few more back-and-forth runs, complete with a few more low jumps and pirouettes, then strapped the harness on again and gave the signal for Lucretia to lower her to the ground.

The gaffer helped her out of the harness. "Very impressive. No one would know you're a rookie."

"Thanks," Jaime told her. "I had a good teacher."

------


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The next morning, as Jaime sat in the dining area, trying to convince herself that she was hungry enough to eat powdered eggs, the jingle of the bells on his hat announced the clown who'd been trying to sneak up behind her.

"Hey, Pretty Lady, this seat taken?" he asked.

Jaime grinned. "Hi, Boffo. Want some eggs?"

Steve looked down at her plate. "I don't think I'll _ever_ be quite that hungry."

"The toast is edible."

"I'll pass," Boffo told her. "Listen, there were two guys from Clown Alley, named Buckley and Quigs, who made certain to greet me the minute I got here yesterday, and last night I noticed they were watching you pretty closely while you practiced. Maybe they just appreciate the sight of a beautiful woman, but just to be on the safe side, when we head into town today, I'll have Charlotte relay the names to Oscar, to see what he comes up with. Anything you want me to tell him?"

"Tell him how very much I appreciate this wonderful show business opportunity," Jaime said drily.

------

Two hours later, Jaime had watched Lucretia inspect the harness, the rigging and the wire and then she'd inspected them herself. Satisfied, she went up and spent a peaceful 45 minutes working out what would pass as an act. She returned to terra firma resolving to practice again after lunch, finding that she was beginning to - gasp - enjoy what she was doing.

She took some time to stroll casually around the grounds, checking out the animals, testing the locks on the cages when she wasn't being watched, and tuning her ear in to listen to what was an unusually quiet midway; nothing to see, nothing to hear.

------

Steve gave Charlotte the names _Quigs_ and _Buckley_ and was surprised to find out that Oscar planned to attend the second of three performances scheduled for the following day. Boffo then rejoined his fellow clowns on their 'walkabout', handing out free admission tickets to young children and paper flowers to their mothers. Like his fiancee, Steve was beginning to enjoy the role he'd re-assumed so reluctantly.

The clowns stayed out until mid-afternoon, drumming up business, and returned en-masse for a late lunch. Steve had only taken a few bites of his bologna and cheese when the silent midway burst into a cacophony of screams, shouts and pandemonium.

He poked his head out of the dining tent but it seemed everyone had urgent places to run to, and no one stopped long enough to brief a curious clown. Alarmed, he headed toward the Big Top and found a young female roustabout leaning against a tent pole, sobbing her heart out.

"Hey, what is it?" Steve asked, kneeling down to peer into her grief-stricken face.

"We...we lost another one," the girl said in an empty voice.

"Another what, Honey?" he pressed. "What happened?"

"The new wire-walker - she just took a header."

Steve virtually flew into the Big Top, and his heart nearly broke when he saw half of Jaime's far-end platform swinging free, the wood broken clean away from the base. The net didn't appear to extend far enough to cover the area below the platform. "What happened? Where is she?" he demanded of the first person he happened to grab, who turned out to be his new friend, Quigs.

"Dunno, but I guess it's pretty bad. Check the first aid tent."

Steve's gut told him that if it was that bad, the first aid tent wouldn't be the right place. He didn't hear sirens, so he tried Jaime's door, found it locked, and made his way as fast as he dared to Lucretia's double-sized trailer. Before he'd even reached it, his eye picked up a flurry of activity inside. _Bingo_! He pulled the door open without knocking, granting himself entry without invitation.

Jaime was stretched out on the bed, and she didn't seem to be moving. Steve forced his way through several indignant onlookers and was nearly beside the bed when two security guards grabbed him. Lucretia looked up, saw that it was 'Boffo' and waved them away.

"He's alright; let him through," she told the puzzled guards. "I need you to clear everybody else out of here, and stand watch on the front steps." She waited until everyone else had gone, then turned to Steve.

"What the hell happened here?" he demanded without giving her a chance to speak. Not waiting for an answer, he leaned over the bed to take Jaime's hand.

"Steve...?" she moaned softly, her eyes still closed.

"I'm here, Sweetheart," he told her urgently, but she said no more. He looked angrily at the gaffer. "Why was there no net under that platform?"

"There was this morning. And it was still in place when she started rehearsing. I was called out of the tent; I didn't see her fall, but they tell me she was able to grab a piece of the rigging partway down, to help break her fall, so it could've been a lot worse."

"It shouldn't have happened at all!" Steve snapped.

"I'm...ok..." Jaime said, very softly, as she slowly opened her eyes.

"I don't suppose you called an ambulance?" Steve asked, his fury undiminished.

"Better," Lucretia told him. "Rudy Wells is on his way." She slipped out of the trailer to give Jaime and Steve a little private time before he had a chance to ask her exactly how she'd managed to reach (or even known to call) the OSI doctor.

------


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"I'm ok," Jaime repeated in a very weak voice. She began to sit up and her face instantly paled to ghost-white.

"Easy, there, Slugger," Steve said, taking her gently in his arms and lowering her back onto the pillow. "Just rest now. I don't think you should move until Rudy's gotten a look at you."

"Elephants..." she murmured, obediently closing her eyes.

"What about the elephants?" Steve leaned in closer, but Jaime was already out. What Steve knew about elephants could've fit into a peanut, so, keeping one eye on his fiancee, he opened the trailer door and found only the guards standing there. "Where's Lucretia?"

"Main gate, waiting for the doctor."

Steve didn't trust anyone else - he wasn't even sure he trusted Lucretia - and he didn't want to leave Jaime alone, so the elephants had to wait.

Jaime didn't even stir in the half hour Steve was alone with her. He looked her over carefully, and saw no visible injuries except for what looked like a pretty bad burn on the palm of her left hand. When Lucretia returned with the doctor, he was wearing a plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans, and he wasn't Rudy.

"Michael?" Steve was more than a little surprised. Although they were no longer rivals for Jaime's affection, the two had never been friends. Still, a doctor was a doctor, and Jaime needed one right away.

"I was closer," the young physician explained, "and Oscar thought I'd blend in a little better."

"Thanks for coming," Steve told him sincerely. The two men shook hands as Lucretia headed back out the door.

"You'll let me know what you find...?" she requested.

Michael nodded. "Of course." He was already at Jaime's bedside, checking her vital signs. "Lucy said she was awake?" he asked without looking up.

"For a few minutes," Steve confirmed. "I'm not sure if she was actually _here_, though." The past wasn't entirely passed, as Steve felt his heart pang at the sight of Michael touching Jaime, even professionally. He forced himself to push that aside. "There's a weird burn on her left hand," he added.

"Rope burn. Lucy said she apparently grabbed one of the support ropes and slid down."

"We were awfully lucky; there was no net beneath that platform."

Michael glanced up, his eyes dark with alarm. "Oscar know that?"

"Not yet."

"Steve, the Medivac's right outside the front gate. Could you please grab the white medical bag and the red lockbox from in back?"

When Steve returned with the requested items, Michael had just finished the exam and was seated beside the bed. "What's the verdict?" Steve inquired nervously.

"She's in shock. Other than her hand and a fairly large abrasion on her hip, I didn't find any injuries, but I'd feel better if she was conscious." He took the medical bag from Steve's hands. "Thanks." He was almost finished bandaging Jaime's hand when she finally opened her eyes.

"Hello there," Michael said softly. Steve moved in closer to the bed, where Jaime could see him, as well.

Jaime smiled at both of them. "Hi, Doc. Patient gonna live?"

"I need you to look straight ahead for me," the doctor told her. "Good. To the left, please? And the right."

"I didn't hit my head," she said helpfully.

Michael raised an eyebrow. "You got your medical degree...where?" Jaime stuck out her tongue and Michael turned to Steve. "She'll be fine. Jaime, are you in pain?"

"No. Can I get up now?"

"I wouldn't rush it. Steve, I want her to stay put for at least another hour, then off her feet for 24 hours. Longer, if she doesn't cooperate." He smiled at Jaime. "Check in with Rudy when you get back to DC."

"We've got performances tomorrow," Jaime insisted, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"**_No!_**" both men said in perfect stereo. "Up on a tightrope?" Michael continued. "Absolutely out of the question. And get back in that bed, please; or do I need to sedate you?"

"Fine," Jaime said with a slight pout, sinking back under the blanket. _What you don't know won't hurt you. Or me._

_------_

After she'd rested to his satisfaction, Steve escorted Jaime back to her trailer. "Sweetheart," he began, "earlier, when I don't think you were quite awake yet, you said something about elephants..."

"Yeah. For some reason, they were working the elephants in the same ring as my net. I think one of them bumped it aside, right before I fell."

"Did someone tell it to do that, or -? "

"I don't think so. It seemed really quiet. I didn't hear them saying anything at all, to any of the animals. They were probably using hand signals."

"What were they doing there in the first place?"

"Beats me. I think they're usually ring three, not center, but no animals are allowed in _any_ ring that has a net set up."

"Well, I'm gonna find out tonight, one way or the other. I've got another practice before dinner," he told her, "but I _will_ look into it. Just remember - Michael said _stay off your feet_."

"I know he did," she answered, promising nothing and hoping he wouldn't notice. Steve seemed convinced, bending closer for a long, soft kiss before heading for the door.

"**_Off your feet_**," he repeated, and then he was gone.

_Eventually_, Jaime thought to herself. _I promise._

------


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"That is _not_ what Doctor Marchetti told me," Lucretia said skeptically, over coffee the next morning.

"He didn't want Boffo to worry any more than he already does," Jaime insisted, "but he said if I sit out the morning show, I'll be good to go for the afternoon matinee. _I'm fine._"

"But, your hand...the bandages..."

"I can still make a fist," Jaime told her, demonstrating. "Besides, when I'm that high up in the air on that teeny little rope, there's no way I'm letting go of my pole."

"Well..." Lucretia was not quite convinced. "You wouldn't be saying this because Oscar is coming to the matinee, now, would you?"

_**Oscar**? First name basis, huh? _Jaime was quickly amassing quite a collection of pieces to the puzzle; trouble was, they didn't come close to making a coherent picture. Yet.

------

After breakfast, Jaime returned to her trailer and was obediently sitting in a chair when Steve, in full 'Boffo' regalia and greasepaint, stopped in to check up on her.

"See?" she said happily, "I'm behaving myself. Lucy even brought me a footstool." Jaime plunked first one foot, then the other, onto the stool for emphasis.

Steve sat down on the edge of the bed, nearly sinking to the floor as the rusty springs gave way.

"Should've warned you about that," Jaime admitted through her giggles.

"Very funny," he grumbled, laughing with her. He decided to perch on the metal frame at the foot of the bed, rather than chance it on the mattress. "Charlotte came to see me this morning."

"She was here?"

"Yeah. Seems Quigs and Buckley were with the KGB before they started clowning around."

"_Were_?"

"As far as Jack and Oscar can tell, neither one has been active for at least six months."

Jaime shivered slightly. Just thinking about the KGB and its tactics frightened her to the core of her soul. "That's not too reassuring." She had a very fast inner debate with herself as to whether or not she should share what she'd learned with Steve. It would mean busting herself, admitting she hadn't stayed _entirely_ off of her feet, but they were a **team** - always had been. There was really no question; she had to tell him. "Oscar's coming to the afternoon show."

"I know."

"And you didn't tell me...why?"

Steve grinned, reaching out to caress her cheek. "I thought that might make you more determined than you already were to get up there and perform."

"I don't know why you'd think that," Jaime said innocently. "I...um...overheard something last night, Steve. The handlers were bedding the elephants down for the night, and one of them said something like _Not the morning - the second show_."

"The elephants are all the way across the midway. You heard that from your chair there, huh?"

"Not exactly. But - that's when Oscar's coming. Makes me pretty nervous."

"Yeah; me too." Steve got up from the bedframe and knelt in front of Jaime's chair, cupping her face gently in both of his hands. "And **_I _**will handle it. You are officially out of commission. Understand?"

Jaime smiled and saluted. Even when Steve was bossy, demanding and overprotective, she loved him fiercely. "Yes, Sir, Colonel, Sir."

------

She waited until the band was playing the opening march, when she knew Boffo would be bouncing into the Big Top with his fellow clowns, then Jaime snuck quickly and quietly to the area just behind the elephant trailer. The animals were being herded into line for their place in the opening march. She got there just in time for what she needed to hear.

"Keep Wanda behind," someone was saying. "I'm not running her in the first show. I need her nice and energetic when she steps on that nail."

Although she couldn't discover who was speaking, Jaime knew what she had to do. "Lucy!" she called, moving briskly to catch up with the gaffer.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting until the second show, Dear?" Lucretia turned, saw the stricken, scared look on Jaime's face and stopped in her tracks. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"You've gotta pull the elephants from the matinee. Have the guards grab the elephant handlers as soon as they come out of the tent, and lock them away somewhere solid and secure."

"Can I ask why?"

"I'll explain later. Please?" Without waiting for a response, Jaime was off and running. She intended to get into town, find a phone and call Oscar before anyone realized she was gone, and she rounded the back of the Big Top to get out without being seen. She made it only as far as twenty feet from the rear gate when her world spun crazily and went instantly dark.

------


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jaime opened her eyes to discover she couldn't see. _Blindfolded. _She forced herself to stay calm as she fought to clear the dense fog from her brain. As she began to regain her senses, she found she was also gagged. She started to move around a bit, trying to attract the attention of whoever had brought her here, but no one responded. She found she was leaning against a pole or a support beam, her wrists fastened around it, behind her back. She didn't know how long she'd been knocked out, but Jaime knew she _had_ to get free.

Finally, a lucky break: her wrists were secured with rope. If she'd been handcuffed or even taped, the force needed to break loose would've also broken her left arm. _Rope, I can handle. I think. _Jaime let her left arm go as limp as possible, then teased the rope against the pole with the strength of her other arm until it began to stretch and loosen. With one firm but careful bionic yank, she was free. She pulled off the blindfold and a sudden wave of nausea nearly overwhelmed her. She was in a very small, almost empty trailer that seemed to be the same one Lou had been holding her in when Charlotte shot him. Jaime had been a split second - one trigger-pull - from death that day. On this day, she just wanted to get the hell out. She tore the tape from her mouth, spit out the gag, turned toward the door and...she found Lucretia.

The gaffer was on the floor, unrestrained, in a crumpled heap. She wasn't breathing. Jaime knelt beside her, discovered she also had no pulse, and quickly began CPR, using her bandaged left hand for the chest compressions, afraid she'd hurt her with her right one. After a few very tense minutes, color returned to the older woman's face and she began to stir.

Jaime sat back on her heels and sighed with relief, but relief was short-lived. Over the din of the midway, Jaime could just make out the melody of the opening march. The very first notes. "Oh God...the matinee...!" She could see that although Lucy was back among the living, she was nowhere even approaching functional. Jaime checked the gaffer's pockets, located her hand-held walkie-talkie and switched it on. "I need you to stop the show and evacuate the Big Top," Jaime told the very confused technician on the other end.

"Wha-a-t? Who is this?"

"Never mind. Your gaffer's hurt, and she's not gonna be the only one, if you don't listen to me."

"But...I can't just -!"

"**_Dammit! Do it now!_** Or every person in that tent's blood is gonna be on your hands!" Jaime clicked off the transmitter once she heard the music stop. She began to make Lucretia as comfortable as possible so she could leave her and assist in the evacuation, but things went from dire to critical before she had time to blink. _Smoke...I smell smoke! _Jaime thought to herself. _Oh, no - they're burning the Big Top!_

Unfortunately, critical was fast turning into deadly. Jaime reached for the doorknob and instantly singed the tips of her fingers where the bandage didn't cover them. She glanced quickly out the tiny window at the top of the door and knew she was in **big** trouble. Fire was engulfing the trailer, the flames already higher than the window and still growing. There were no other windows; no means of escape except through the thick wall of flames, and if she were to try, she'd have to do it carrying Lucretia. Jaime switched the walkie-talkie back on.

"I'm in the supply trailer with Miss Lucy, and it's on fire; we can't get out - we need help!" Jaime told him, struggling not to panic as smoke started seeping under the door. "I need you to find Boffo the Clown and give him your radio - _please._"

"There's no way I'll find him in this mess," the techie said.

"Would you rather lose your second boss in less than six months?"

"Oh, wait - there he is."

_Thank God. _The line was silent for a moment, then the most welcome voice Jaime'd ever heard came on the other end.

"Yes?"

"Steve, it's me. I'm in the supply trailer and it - it's on fire. Lucy's with me. She's hurt and we can't get out."

"Where are you?"

"I don't know." She started to cough; it was getting harder to breathe. "Little trailer, **on fire** - can't miss it."

"Sweetheart, most of the midway's on fire."

------


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The smoke and flames blanketing the midway seemed to turn day into night. At night, though, the stars provide at least some light; there was nothing to guide the rescuers through the fires on the midway. Thanks to Jaime's first radio call, the Big Top had been cleared out just seconds before the fire began licking the canvas. The audience had escaped unscathed, other than minor cuts and abrasions from the rush to the exits.

Steve found Charlotte before he found the trailer. "Jaime and Lucy are trapped," he told her urgently, "and I can't find the supply trailer." Even his bionic eye was having trouble seeing through the smoke.

"I know where it is; follow me," Charlotte told him.

Steve got back on the walkie-talkie. "Jaime...you there?"

The voice that answered was weak and hoarse. "Yeah."

"Charlotte and I are coming to get you, but it's really hard to see where we're going. I need you to turn off your radio. I'll keep talking, and you tell me when my voice is getting closer, ok?"

"...Ok."

Jaime tuned in as closely as she could to her surroundings. She heard the roar of the fire, a cacophony of sirens, screams and shouted directions, and then, from the distance...Steve's voice. "I love you, Sweetheart..."

Tears of emotion combined with tears from the smoke. "I...love you, too..."

"You can hear me? Jaime, are you hurt?"

"No...yeah, I guess so...Steve, you're getting further away!"

Steve, operating mostly on instinct, blindly took a sharp left. "What about now? Any better?"

"Yes! Keep coming...please..." Jaime's voice trailed off weakly.

"There's the trailer!" Charlotte exclaimed.

Steve infra-red vision could barely make out the trailer door, but he had no trouble seeing the fire, which had moved up over the top of the structure and was rapidly engulfing it. "Jaime," he called into the radio, "is Lucy hurt?"

"She's..." her mind and body were begging to give in to the blackness that was all around her. "She's not awake. Gave her...CPR."

"Sweetheart, you're gonna have to come out the door, and you've gotta do it now. I'll count to five, then I'm pulling the door off. I want you to push Lucy toward me - I'll grab her and pull her the rest of the way, and you dive out after her. Ok?"

Silence.

"Jaime?"

"...o...k..."

Steve did a very fast count, fearing they were already too late, and then grabbed the door (which was also on fire) and threw it behind them, where he hoped no one was standing. On cue, Lucretia came rolling toward him and he caught her and passed her to Charlotte. He waited for what seemed an eternity, but Jaime did not follow.

"I'm going in," Steve - already in motion - called to Charlotte. He dove through the wall of flame so quickly that he was barely singed. "Jaime?" He dropped low to the ground and began searching for her, carefully feeling his way across the floor. A feeble, barely audible coughing sound pointed him in the right direction. She was clear across the tiny trailer from where he'd expected to find her, having become disoriented after pushing Lucy to safety.

Steve scooped Jaime into his arms then held his breath as he stood and made his way back out the door. One by one, the fires were being extinguished, and the water from a dozen fire hoses was beginning to cut through the smoke clouds as well.

"Steve! Over here!"

Steve headed toward where he heard Michael's voice, figuring, correctly, that Marchetti had come in a Medivac. He carried Jaime into the back of the chopper and laid her gently on the gurney. Michael immediately strapped an oxygen mask on her face and handed a second one to Steve. "You, too," he insisted as the Medivac took off.

Jaime remained on oxygen, sleeping off the effects of smoke inhalation, for nearly 48 hours, and Steve stayed glued to her side for the duration. Several times on the second day, she opened her eyes and gazed up at him just long enough to share a soft, languid kiss before drifting off again. Finally, as they were just about into day three, she opened her eyes with true awareness, smiling at the man who'd held a vigil at her bedside.

Steve noticed the difference immediately, and it made his heart sing. "Hi there," he said softly.

"Hi. Did...everyone get out alright?"

"Thanks to you, there were no fatalities, not even the animals," he told her, tenderly brushing the hair from her face. "Do you have any idea how amazing you are?"

Jaime frowned. "Lucretia?"

"Intensive care for the first night, but she's doing a lot better now. They'll be letting her leave tomorrow morning."

"What about Oscar; was he hurt?"

"He was never even there. You apparently told Lucy to pull the elephants, and she trusted your judgement enough to call Oscar and tell him it was too dangerous for him to come. So you," he said, stealing one more quick kiss, "are a heroine all around."

"But...we didn't save the circus; we didn't help Lucy at all, if everything burned."

"Actually, we did. Once the elephant handlers were locked up - also your doing, by the way - Lucretia had Quigs and Buckley keep an eye on the elephants. Sure enough, the creep showed up and tried to take Wanda from her cage. When he didn't find her where she was supposed to be, he set everything on fire."

"But - why?"

"He's a Soviet nationalist, and he's felt all along that a Soviet/American troupe was just _wrong._ He put up with it while Lou was in charge because he was Lou's middle-man; made himself a boatload of money. Once the gravy train ground to a halt, he saw no reason for the troupe to continue its existence."

"How awful. Poor Lucy!"

"She'll get the show going again; kind of already has. Ringling and a couple of other troupes are giving them supplies, feed for the animals, even trailers."

"Wow."

"You ready for the real mind-blower? Twenty-some years ago, when Miss Lucy first came to this country, she and Oscar had a thing going."

"A - _thing_?"

"Got pretty serious, too. But he was just entering government service and his superiors weren't too happy he'd teamed up with a Soviet, so -"

"That stinks."

"Yep. And what do you do when something like that happens?"

Jaime grinned. "I guess...you join the circus!"

------


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

Three weeks later, Hangar Four at Andrews Air Force Base became an extremely popular destination. Jaime waited excitedly, without the tiniest shred of nervousness, until every single invited guest was in place. Oscar and Miss Lucy sat together, having just enjoyed a cup of coffee together as they savored future possibilities. Quigs, Buckley, Rudy, Michael, Lynda, four nurses from the hospital, Callahan and Russ comprised the rest of the audience.

When everyone was ready, Steve addressed the group, wearing a huge black top hat. "Twice, she has practiced and prepared, and twice she was cheated out of giving her performance, so tonight, in the center and only ring, I give you - not Jana-of-the-Wire but...Miss Jaime Lyn!"

Steve hit the switch on the huge floodlight to reveal Jaime, high above them on a wooden platform. She skipped happily and sure-footedly to the center of the very wire Miss Lucy had used to train her. She went through her whole series of pirouettes, jumps and balances and then, her fear of heights forgotten and having way too much fun to get down, she started making things up as she went along, savoring every moment in the spotlight of her very own center ring.

END


End file.
